But Did You Lose 92 Bricks?

On this day, 48 years ago, a child would become known as the greatest rapper ever was born. He was conceived by Gloria Carter and Adnis Reeves, who made love under the sycamore tree. At 10 pounds when he was born, he miraculously did not cause his mother any pain during labor. Shawn Corey Carter, aka Jay-Z, aka Hov, aka Young! aka Jigga, aka the GOAT, has accomplished many things in his life. He went from the youngest of 4 children, growing up in public housing, to high school dropout, to admitted drug dealer, to successful rapper and businessman worth close to a billion dollars.

But all of those things pale in comparison to the most impressive feat he’s accomplished. Not going from hype man of Big Daddy Kane to having 4 bonafide classics. Not going from girls calling him ugly and not wanting to touch him to the baddest chick in the game wearing his chain. Not rising from independent rapper to president of Def Jam. The most impressive thing Jay ever did? Lose 92 bricks of what we presume to be cocaine and live to tell the story. On his 6th album The Blueprint, Jay reveals on the song “Never Change” that he once misplaced 92 bricks and had to fall back. Now, I do not now, nor have I ever, sold drugs but, I can assume 92 bricks of any drug is a lot of money to just lose. But Hov, being the resourceful man that he is, made a way. After falling back, he used his “A1 credit” to procure more crack and recouped his loss between the 1st and 5th of that month. If he’s not a hustler, what do you call that?

As Jay himself once said, with regard to his moniker of “Hov”: I’m far from being God, but I work God damned hard. And we should all follow his lead. So, ask yourself, did you lose 92 bricks today? Not in the literal sense, because that’s illegal and I’d never promote such a thing on this platform. But if you were faced with insurmountable odds, could you face the music and come through in the clutch? Hov did that, and hopefully you won’t have to go through that, but if you did, could you rise above and live to tell the tale? I certainly hope so. Either way, Happy Birthday, Hov.